Location: Community Church of New York, 40 E. 35th St., between Park and Madison Ave. Or, when noted, 14th Street Y, 344 East 14th St., between 1st & 2nd Ave.
Formats: Shabbat with Catered Dinner ($17/adult, $12/child - ages 4-13) Arrive after 6pm for set-up and pre-dinner snack; 6:30pm - Shabbat Service at the dinner tables followed by the catered dinner; 8:15pm - Cultural Program Shabbat with Pot-Luck Dessert Arrive at 7:15pm; 7:30pm – Shabbat Service and Oneg/Refreshments; 8:30pm - Cultural Program
Pot-Luck Dessert: Members and guests are encouraged to bring enough dessert for themselves and one other person. We won’t complain if you bring more.
Children’s Program: Unless otherwise indicated, there is a children’s program each Shabbat with activities for kids, ages 5+. Please RSVP by the Wednesday prior to the Shabbat if you are bringing a child or children with you, or one week ahead if you coming to a Shabbat with a catered dinner.
Guests are always welcome at our Shabbat celebrations and programs. Reservations are appreciated for all events and are required with payment for meals one week prior to the Shabbat. Call 212-213-1002.
All dates and programs are subject to change. To confirm events and for more information, contact the office at 212-213-1002 or info@citycongregation.org.
Friday, September 11 Shabbat Service and Dinner at 6:30pm, followed by Program at 8:15pm
“THE BINTEL BRIEF: The Original Advice Column - Then and Now”
The Bintel Brief was the Yiddish Forward’s legendary advice column, launched in 1906 by Abraham Cahan. It addressed the pressing needs, challenges and sorrows of Jewish immigrants as they found their way in American life.
Rabbi Peter Schweitzer will pose questions from the original Bintel Brief and then entertain contemporary questions that we face today. Come prepared to offer your own opinions!
Friday, October 9 Shabbat Service at 7:30pm, followed by Pot-Luck Dessert. Program at 8:30pm.
“FIGHTING BACK: Strategies for Responding to Modern Anti-Semitism” In tribute to the 150th birthday of Alfred Dreyfus, born Oct. 9, 1859
When does criticism of Israel become anti-Semitism? How do we answer accusations that scapegoat Jews for the financial crisis? How do we respond to Holocaust denial? Rabbi Peter Schweitzer will examine an array of literature that confronts these questions and offers useful responses.
Friday, October 23 Shabbat Service and Dinner at 6:30pm, followed by Program at 8:15pm
“JEWISH SING-A-LONG with Michelle Lang Zalph”
Adults and kids are invited to join us for a fun-filled evening singing easy-to-learn Jewish songs in Yiddish, Hebrew and English! No experience needed - all songs will be taught and lyrics will be provided.
TCC member Michelle Lang Zalph has performed for many years and led sing-a-longs and music workshops for all ages.
Friday, November 6 Shabbat Service and Dinner at 6:30pm, followed by Program at 8:15pm
"LIFE AND RIGHTS IN ISRAEL: Where do Women and Gays/Lesbians Fit In?"Lilly Rivlin will discuss these and other questions in dialogue with Rabbi Schweitzer
Lilly Rivlin, a 7th generation Jerusalemite, has worked as a journalist, writer, and filmmaker for the last 35 years both internationally and in the United States. She is a political activist with a special interest in feminism and the Arab-Israeli peace process. Among her recent projects was the film, Can You Hear Me? Israeli and Palestinian Women Fight for Peace (2006). She serves on the board of Meretz USA for Israel Civil Rights and Peace, a US non-profit organization that supports a genuine peace between the State of Israel and its neighbors (including the Palestinian people) based on a negotiated land-for-peace solution. For more information, go to www.meretzusa.org.
Friday, November 20 Shabbat Service at 7:30pm, followed by Pot-Luck Dessert. Program at 8:30pm. NOTE: This program will be at the 14th Street Y (344 E. 14th St.)
“THIS I BELIEVE: City Congregation Members Join the Conversation”
For years on NPR, and in the 1950s on Edward R. Murrow's radio show, celebrities and ordinary people have participated in an extraordinary conversation about their core values. More than 60,000 of these three-minute talks – ranging in title from There Is No God (by Penn Gillette) to An Idea of Service to Our Fellow Man (by Albert Einstein) to Be Cool to the Pizza Delivery Dude – are now collected on the This I Believe website (thisibelieve.org). Tonight an eclectic group of City Congregation members will offer their own reflections and then welcome us all into this now-international conversation. Moderated by Carol Sternhell.
Friday, December 11 – Chanukah Celebration and Dinner Chanukah candlelighting, service and dinner at 6:30pm, followed by Special Chanukah program at 8:15pm
BRING YOUR MENORAH AND CANDLES AND JOIN US FOR THE FIRST NIGHT OF CHANUKAH.
Friday, January 8 Shabbat Service at 7:30pm, followed by Pot-Luck Dessert. Program at 8:30pm. “YOU SHOULD GROW LIKE AN ONION WITH YOUR HEAD IN THE GROUND: Wise Jewish Sayings, Practical Wisdom, and also some Colorful Curses”
Rabbi Peter Schweitzer will share a wide variety of time-honored Jewish sayings from the Bible, the Talmud, and Yiddish and Ladino culture, that reflect on heath, justice, children, destiny, interpersonal relations, and many other topics.
Truth is the safest lie. When you climb a ladder, count the rungs. They should name someone after you already!
Friday, January 22 Shabbat Service at 7:30pm, followed by Program and Pot-Luck Dessert. "PEOPLE OF THE LIBRETTO: A History and Celebration of Jews in Musical Theater"
For almost a century, American musical theater has been created primarily by Jews: composers like Rodgers, Gershwin, Arlen, Kern, and Bernstein; lyricists like Hart, Lerner, Harburg, Harnick, and Ebb; and composer-lyricists like Berlin, Loesser, Herman, Sondheim, and Schwartz. How did this happen, and why? In this program, presented by TCC members, Jack Lechner and Peter Mones will review the colorful history of Jews in American musical theater, while Trudy Elins, Michelle Lang Zalph, Anne Shonbrun, and Dan Wyman will perform musical selections to illustrate significant developments, accompanied on piano by Louise Moed. Come enjoy this wonderful music!
This same production will also be performed at our Sunday Adult Perspective on January 24.
Friday, February 5 Shabbat Service at 7:30pm, followed by Pot-Luck Dessert. Program at 8:30pm.
“OUTRAGEOUS HERESIES OR DARING TRUTHS: A Tribute to Baruch Spinoza”
The Society for Humanistic Judaism (shj.org) has chosen 17th century Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza as its Humanistic Jewish Role Model of the Year. We are joining other Humanistic Jewish communities to honor Spinoza’s intellectual contributions to the Jewish people, to the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment understanding of Judaism and to the development of the philosophy of Humanistic Judaism. Led by Rabbi Peter Schweitzer.
Friday, February 26 – Purim Celebration and Dinner Shabbat Service at 7:30pm, followed by Pot-Luck Dessert. Program at 8:30pm. JOIN US FOR OUR ANNUAL PURIM CELEBRATION.
In honor of Queen Esther, we will celebrate the role of Jewish women by selecting one for a special tribute honoring A Woman of Valor. We’ll also plan a fun program – perhaps a bit risqué! – in keeping with the Purim spirit.
Friday, March 12 Shabbat Service at 7:30pm, followed by Pot-Luck Dessert. Program at 8:30pm.
“LET MY NAME BE RECALLED WITH LAUGHTER OR NOT AT ALL: In Celebration of Shalom Aleichem – The Jewish Mark Twain”
Who doesn’t know Tevya and Goldie from Fiddler on the Roof? But did you know that long before they appeared on Broadway, these lovable characters had arisen from the imagination of Shalom Aleichem (born Sholem Naumovich Rabinovich) and originally published in 1894? Join us for a delightful evening that pays tribute to this beloved humorist.
Special Feature:Alicia Svigals, renowned klezmer violinist and TCC member, will participate in the program.
Friday, April 9 Shabbat Service at 7:30pm, followed by Pot-Luck Dessert. Program at 8:30pm.
Co-sponsored with The Generation After / Holocaust Survivors USA.
Friday, April 23 Shabbat Service at 7:30pm, followed by Pot-Luck Dessert. Program at 8:30pm. ISRAELI FOLK DANCING FOR ADULTS AND KIDS with Steve Zalph
No experience needed - all ages welcome. We'll teach all the dances, so come join the fun!
TCC member Steve Zalph taught international folk dancing for 23 years, including leading a Tuesday night folk dance session for 20 years that drew an average of 225 folk dancers each week. He also taught folk dancing at the 92nd Street Y, in a class held every Saturday night for 15 years.
Friday, May 7 Shabbat Service at 7:30pm, followed by Pot-Luck Dessert. Program at 8:30pm. “EVERYONE HAS A ONCE UPON A TIME: Stories that Make you Care as well as Laugh”
Roslyn Bresnick-Perry is a celebrated storyteller whose stories span decades of the twentieth century and great distances, from a Belarus shtetl in pre-Holocaust Europe where she spent her childhood, through immigration, to post-war New York City, and her years in the garment industry as a senior designer. She has appeared at the Victory Theatre on Broadway, represented New York City at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and told stories at the Library of Congress. Her books include I Loved My Mother on Saturdays, and other tales from the shtetl and beyond and Leaving for America.
Friday, May 21 Shabbat Service at 7:30pm, followed by Pot-Luck Dessert. Program at 8:30pm. NOTE: This program will be at the 14th Street Y (344 E. 14th St.)
“LIBE MAYNE: Women’s Yiddish Poetry” with Nikolai “Kolya” Borodulin
In Celebration of Shavuot. Traditionally, this holiday commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. As Humanistic Jews, we use this occasion to celebrate all of our collective literature.
Nikolai “Kolya” Borodulin is Assistant Director of the Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring Center for Cultural Jewish Life. He plans the WC/AR educational programs and develops resources for adults and children. He teaches Yiddish to adults and children and is the author of Yiddish Year Round – a curriculum for young beginners. His presentation will focus on several first-rank Yiddish women poets, reading and analyzing samples from their extraordinary and diverse heritage.
Friday, June 11 Shabbat Service at 7:30pm, followed by Pot-Luck Dessert. Program at 8:30pm.
END-OF-YEAR CELEBRATION plus Jewish Trivia
Join us for our annual tribute to our special volunteers, board members, and leaders of the congregation. Then test your Jewish knowledge! See how much Jewish trivia you know!
